Vegan Hostess Cupcakes

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cupcake tins (makes roughly 18-20 cupcakes) and spray the inside of the liners with cooking spray.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together the apple cider vinegar and milk. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl with an electric mixer or even just a whisk), combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. Mix.

Add in the oil, milk/ apple cider vinegar mixture, vanilla, almond extract, and apple sauce. Mix until just combined (be careful not to over mix), scrapping down the sides as needed.

Pour the batter evenly between your cupcake tins filling each about 3/4 of the way full. I’ve made this where I filled them pretty high and got 18 cupcakes and another time where I ended up with 20.

Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool before frosting.

In a medium bowl, beat together the butter and shortening with an electric mixer or stand mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add in the sugar and continue to beat for 3 more minutes.

Finally, add in the vanilla and milk and beat for 3 more minutes until it’s nice and fluffy. Place in the fridge to chill until ready to use. Once ready, place into a large piping bag with a thick tip.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave (in 30 second increments) or in a double boiler. Whisk in the milk and oil until fully combined and smooth.

In a medium bowl, beat the butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Add in the powdered sugar and milk and beat until combined and smooth. Place into a small piping bag with a thin tip.

Taking one cooled cupcake at a time, place the tip of the filling bag into the cupcakes and press down lightly so that the tip is roughly in the center of the cupcake. Squeeze the filling into the cupcake slowly but steadily until it starts it puff up and come out the top a bit. keep squeezing as you gently pull the piping bag out of the cupcake. If you can spare a cupcake, I like to cut the first one open to see how well it was filled up so I know how much more to squeeze in the remaining ones. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.

Dip the top of each cupcake into the ganache filling and roll the top around gently so that the top is fully covered in the ganache. Repeat with all of the cupcakes. Place the cupcakes into the fridge to chill until the ganache is hardened and set.

Once ready, pipe the icing on to the top of each cupcake in the classic swirled pattern.

ENJOY!

I suggest storing the leftovers in the fridge and enjoying within 4 days.